9.18am: Welcome to Middle East live. Libya looks like being the focus today with the rebels claiming they are rapidly advancing.

Opposition fighters are continuing attempts to push west from Misrata as well as their offensive on the eastern oil town of Brega. Meanwhile, Muammar Gaddafi is trying to rally tribes to take back the western mountains from rebels.

With a little bit of help, we will be in Tripoli very soon. Very soon means days. We are here in France to discuss how we can do the job.

The rebel leaders asked France for more weapons to help their offensive.

•Gaddafi held a rally in al-Aziziya, south of the capital as part of his ongoing attempts to mobilise tribes to combat recent rebel advances, the Associated Press reports. The Libyan dictator said:

Look at the tribes of the Warshafana, who dares to challenge them? No one can; they will help free Libya from the hands of these rebels. You are preparing today to march to the western mountains to cleanse it and liberate it from the traitors and mercenaries.

AP reports

Over the past week, Gaddafi has started injecting more and more references to the tribes in his almost daily speeches and begun talking about a popular march of "millions" of tribesmen to reclaim the lost territory.

Sometimes it is an unarmed march of men, women and children, other times it sounds like more of a military operation, but at the very least it suggests some kind of counter-attack may be in the offing.

It is impossible to determine independently whether the tribesmen truly support the Gaddafi military, as the government repeatedly insists, or whether they are ready to mount an assault on the mountains.

•Rebel fighters claim to have encircled remaining Gaddafi troops in the strategic oil town of Brega but they are being held up by minefields.

Syria

Stephen Rapp, who has been in London discussing how to bring international pressure to bear on Bashar al-Assad's regime, believes that government officials in Damascus will eventually be brought to justice.

"We are watching the situation in Syria very closely," Rapp told the Guardian.

"We see crimes against humanity. As a former prosecutor [in the special court for Sierra Leone] I can't tell whether it's … systematic attacks against civilians based on a plan.

"But it is clearly violence that has caused more than 1,000 deaths [among] civilians who were asking for democratic rights. It constitutes a crime against humanity. That needs to stop and there needs to be accountability."

•The local co-ordination committees (LCC), which organise and report protests in Syria, said there was heavy gunfire in Homs overnight forcing people to switch off lights to protect themselves from snipers. They said:

Security forces are everywhere in Brazil Street and Insha'at area with armored vehicles support. 2000 security person are in Jouret Al Shiah, everyone is asked to show his personal ID when walking in or out the district

They also reported gunfire in al-Rastan.

•The LCC also said security forces used force to try to disperse a demonstration of hundreds of people in al Qemariya in old Damascus, arresting eight people. There were also protests overnight in Lattakia and Deir ez-Zor.

Egypt

Major General Mamdouh Shaheen, who presented the new law to reporters said barring foreign monitors was a necessary step to protect Egypt's sovereignty. He said:

We have nothing to hide...we reject anything that affects our sovereignty.

Egyptian election monitors will observe the process instead, he said. Hafez Abou Saada, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, said promises of free and fair elections from the military are not enough, noting that denying international monitors mirrors the line adopted by the regime of the deposed dictator, Hosni Mubarak. He said:

International monitors are part of any modern elections. Many countries are watching what is happening in Egypt. This is not a very positive signal.

3.34pm:Egypt has today sworn in its new cabinet and it includes the unlikely figure of Zahi Hawass, who has returned to his post as Egypt's minister of antiquities, Bikyamasr reports:

At once loved and hated by Egyptologists and activists, often dubbed the "Indiana Jones of Egypt" Hawass said he was back in charge, but was unsure of how long he would remain.

On Sunday, in the Cabinet reshuffle, Hawass was dismissed and Abdel Fatah El Banna of Cairo University was named as his successor, but the appointment failed to go ahead after he faced criticism, including protests from antiquities staff.

Upon hearing the news on Sunday of his ousting, angry archaeologists, who had been camped out in front of the ministry, allegedly chased the embattled minister throughout the streets before his bodyguards were able to get Hawass into a taxi.

Hawass has been under fire from a number of sides in recent years including from rights groups who accuse the man of dictatorial polices concerning debate and scientific findings.

3.13pm: The death of Gaddafi's brother-in-law and chief enforcer, Abdullah Senussi, remains unconfirmed but there other news points to the Libyan rebel offensive gaining strength. The opposition say they have captured the chief of operations of government forces in Zlitan on the first day of their offensive against the town, Chris Stephens, in Misrata, reports for the Guardian:

General Abdul Nabih Zayid was caught late on Wednesday after advancing fighters overran his command post at Souk Talat, a small village on the outskirts of Zlitan, opposition commanders said.

"We have him in custody. He is being well looked after," said Mohamed Frefr, in charge of detainees for the rebels. "After three days talking with him we will hand him to the military prison."

Rebels in the besieged coastal city said the general was being interviewed by intelligence officers and well looked after, with supplies of insulin procured because he has diabetes.

A member of the Misrata Military Council, Hassan Duwa, said the general was captured as rebel units advanced towards Zlitan late on Wednesday. "He was in his house, 11 guys surrounded the house."

His capture is regarded as a major feather in the cap for rebel forces. The general gained notoriety among rebels when he helped co-ordinate the deployment of tanks into the streets of Misrata in March, triggering two months of street fighting that saw much of the city wrecked and hundreds killed.

Misrata's war crimes investigators say the general, who was operations officer at the city garrison before the war, is a "person of interest" for his role in what they say were widespread and systematic attacks against civilians.

In another sign government forces are under pressure, they have been trying to attract new recruits, Chris writes:

In a sign that government forces may be feeling the strain, Libya's state television channel on Thursday morning broadcast an appeal for volunteers to join the army. An announcer told viewers there were vacancies in all units, including special forces, and that soldiers would be well paid.

2.35pm: There are unconfirmed reports circulating that brother-in-law and chief enforcer, Abdullah Senussi, has been killed by Libyan opposition fighters (we are trying to confirm these).

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, described Senussi as Gaddafi's "righthand man, the executioner". But Senussi was more than a hard man in one of the most repressive regimes in the post-cold war world: his brief extended to political and PR strategies after Gaddafi abandoned terrorism and his WMD programmes in 2003 and sought a complete makeover ...

The ICC described him as "personal adviser to Gaddafi on security services, policy and military matters", saying its evidence was that he is still active as head of military intelligence. Whatever his position, he is one of the Libyan leader's ahl al-Khaimah (people of the tent) – Gaddafi's very closest entourage.

Senussi, 62, was blamed for the killings in Benghazi as well as for the recruitment of foreign mercenaries. Later reports from the rebel capital described how he had been sent there to "keep a lid on the situation". Senussi first appealed for an end to protests but made clear that if they persisted there would be a violent response. Bloody repression followed and the uprising spread to Tobruk and al-Bayda.

Libyans hold him responsible for the notorious 1996 massacre of about 1,200 inmates at Tripoli's Abu Salim prison. The ICC said he was also behind the killing of 13 demonstrators in Benghazi in 2006.

Until now, Senussi's most notorious exploit was as mastermind of the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people were killed. That led to a 1999 case in which he was convicted in absentia in France. He has been unable to travel abroad freely since then.

Photograph: Al-Masriya TV/AFP/Getty Images

2.26pm:Egypt's appeals court rescinded a ruling to remove the names of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne from schools and streets, state news agency MENA reported on Thursday. From Reuters:

Officials seeking to win presidential favour named public buildings, military installations and rural clinics after Mubarak in the years before a popular uprising toppled him in February.

"The court of appeals ... cancelled an earlier ruling issued by the court of first degree that decided to remove the name of former President Hosni Mubarak and that of his wife Suzanne Thabet from all institutions," MENA said.

The agency said the court decided to refer the case to State Council for review.

Mubarak faces a trial on August 3 on charges of killing protesters, which could carry the death penalty. He is also accused of abuse of power, wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains.

He was admitted to hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in April after reportedly suffering heart problems during his initial questioning.

1.14pm: I've just been speaking to Anthony Skinner, who has authored a political risk briefing on Libya for the global risk analysis firm Maplecroft. He said the recent rebel gains would boost their fighters' morale, adding:

There could be reversals [in the rebel gains] but what is significant is there is increasing evidence suggesting Gaddafi is struggling in terms of resources. He's running out of fuel and the wherewithal to pay his forces ...

The key sticking point is taking Tripoli itself. Do they [the rebels] have the commitment, the know-how, the organisation to take the capital. I would expect Gaddafi to put up one hell of a fight.

Anthony added that it was not surprising that France, initially so hawkish towards Libya, now appeared to be softening its stance with recent comments by ministers calling for dialogue and suggesting Gaddafi could remain in the country if he left office.

Different options are on the table and if Gaddafi is willing to go and this would result in Libya being able to avert months or even years of fighting then of course the French will be interested in that.

12.42pm:

The Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, writes that Qatar has broken ranks in the Arab world when it comes to Syria (I will post the link here when the full article goes online):

Qatar lived up to its reputation for being a maverick in Middle Eastern politics by suspending the operations of its embassy in Damascus this week. The emir of the small but fabulously wealthy Gulf state has already gone far beyond the Arab consensus by supporting the Libyan rebels, sending cash and weapons to help them in their fight against Muammar Gaddafi. The United Arab Emirates is doing the same, but in a lower-profile sort of way.

Qatar, however, was not reacting directly to Syrian repression but to attacks on its diplomatic mission in the leafy Damascus suburb of Ein Rummaneh. That was pelted with stones, eggs and tomatoes in protest at coverage of the unrest by Al-Jazeera TV — the satellite channel owned by Qatar, based in Doha and watched by millions of Arabs. Qatari investments in Syria have reportedly also been frozen.

Qatar's moves, in the words of analyst Karim Sader,were "more like a shrewdly calculated divorce from the Syrian regime than a fleeting spat."

Other, more discreet action is afoot. Arab media circles are rife with rumours of financial support from Qatar, the UAE and the Saudis for Syrian opposition groups— paying for conferences, media and perhaps more. Crucially though, there is no sign that Arab presidents, emirs and kings are ready publicly to abandon Bashar al-Assad, five months into one of the bloodiest and most unpredictable episodes of the Arab spring.

Ian notes that Nabil Elaraby, the new secretary-general of the Arab League, criticised Barack Obama for stating that Assad had "lost legitimacy" and Saudi Arabia, Syria's bitter rival, especially in Lebanon, does not want to see chaos if Assad is forced from power or uses massive violence and repression to hold on. Syria's neighbours Iraq and Jordan are keeping quiet and Ian adds:

Israel is also monitoring the Syrian crisis but keeping uncharacteristically silent. Its listening posts on the occupied Golan Heights, less than an hour from Damascus, must be picking up some unusual intelligence from Syria's telephone and radio networks – though YouTube is a handy source for tracking defections by army officers refusing to kill their own people. As Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged in an interview with the Saudi-owned al-Arabiyya TV — like its rival al-Jazeera closely covering the Syrian uprising — anything Israel says will be counter-productive.

But Syria's crisis is mainly a problem for Arabs. This week the Arab Writers Union, meeting in Cairo, held heated discussions about the situation in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the region but its final communiqué managed only to condemn the crushing of peaceful protests "in more than one country" — without daring to name any. "If even Arab writers can't protest about what's happening in Syria," complained the al-Hayat commentator Ahmed Asfahani, "what hope is there that their governments will do anything?"

12.14pm:

Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters JASON REED/POOL/REUTERS POOL

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has "cautiously supported" the uprising in Syria in a rare interview with Arab media, al-Arabiya reports.

Although Bashar al-Assad is a long-time opponent of the Israeli regime, Israel is believed to favour "the devil it knows", fearing that a change could lead to a more hardline, possibly Islamist regime. But Al-Arabiya reports that Netanyahu denied this was the case:

Mr Netanyahu prefaced his remarks on Syria by saying that Israel does not interfere in Syrian affairs and that anything he says would be used against the "genuine reform that people would like to see in Syria."

The prime minister added that "the young people of Syria deserve a better future" and noted that "obviously (they are) showing enormous courage in the face of strong brutality." He stopped short however of condemning the Assad regime's crackdown or joining US and European calls for a halt to the violence and genuine political and economic reform ...

Mr Netanyahu went on to deny suggestions that Israel would prefer Mr. Assad to hold on to power because he had effectively maintained an armed peace along Syria's border with Israel.

One of the corpses had been cleanly decapitated, while the trousers of another had been ripped down to his ankles, a way of humiliating a dead enemy.

The green uniforms were the same as those worn by loyalists fighting for Col. Muammer Gaddafi in Libya's civil war. No one from the rebel side claimed the corpses, or declared their loved ones missing.

There was no funeral, or call to the media by the rebels to see the 'atrocities committed by the regime'.

Since the bodies were seen by the Daily Telegraph attempts to discover their identities have been unsuccessful, in part because of obstruction by rebel authorities in the area. Having highlighted the discovery to those authorities the area was subsequently bulldozed and the bodies disappeared.

The find will add to concerns highlighted in recent days over human rights violations by rebel forces. Human Rights Watch last week said that had looted homes, shops and hospitals and beaten captives as they advanced.

11.06am: Another trial has opened against the ousted Tunisian dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Ben Ali, who is once again being tried in absentia, has has already been convicted twice in recent weeks, for embezzlement and gun and drug smuggling.

In the current trial he faces two charges of abuse of power. He is accused in two different cases of intervening personally to secure land for his family at below-market prices. Ben Ali faces more than 100 legal investigations that could lead to trial.

10.35am: A human rights activist and a resident have told the Associated Press there is intense gunfire in Homs as Syrian security forces conduct raids and make arrests.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says tanks have closed on some neighbourhoods in Homs including Bab Sbaa, where the main raids are taking place.

A resident in the city, says mosque loudspeakers are calling for people to aid Bab Sbaa. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals, says the neighbourhood has been subjected to heavy machine-gun fire since 4am Thursday.

Threee videos, which cannot be independently verified, claim to show recent activity in and around Homs. They were all posted on YouTube on Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal says rebels have thereby opened a new front "suggesting the strongman's grip is slipping even in areas believed firmly in his control":

The fall of Sebha, one of Col. Gaddafi's three regional power centres, would be a huge symbolic and strategic blow.

The city of 130,000 is a logistics hub for the regime, channelling food, fuel and other war supplies northward from southern farmlands and neighbouring Algeria, Chad and Niger, said rebel leaders.

With the latest offensive, rebels have now made progress on every front of the war ...

Even if the rebels only threaten Sebha, which Col. Gaddafi has been able to leave lightly defended until now thanks to strong tribal support in the area, it could force him to redeploy units battling elsewhere to defend the city, further stretching his already battered forces.

In a week that has seen at least 40 die and escalating violence in Homs, the country's third largest city, state radio and private stations owned by regime cronies have been blaring out songs exalting Bashar al-Assad as "Abu Hafez", suggesting his son Hafez could succeed him, or anointing him president for "all eternity".

Baseball caps, T-shirts and flags adorned with the president's face are sold around Damascus. Billboards show him surrounded by pink hearts – in stark contrast to the sterner, more militarised pictures of his father, Hafez, the former president.

Television programmes show residents shopping and driving, portraying calm and order while regime supporters chant that they would shed blood for their leader.

"The propaganda is relentless," said one businessman. "The regime has hijacked the idea of national identity and is pushing divisions." Official rhetoric is sectarian and blames foreign and Islamist armed miscreants for the violence. In contrast, the protesters have been keen to portray Syrians as united and peaceful.

Such crude misinformation can be surprisingly effective in a country where there is no independent media, reporting is difficult and news comes mainly from witnesses and amateur film footage.

9.18am: Welcome to Middle East live. Libya looks like being the focus today with the rebels claiming they are rapidly advancing.

Opposition fighters are continuing attempts to push west from Misrata as well as their offensive on the eastern oil town of Brega. Meanwhile, Muammar Gaddafi is trying to rally tribes to take back the western mountains from rebels.

With a little bit of help, we will be in Tripoli very soon. Very soon means days. We are here in France to discuss how we can do the job.

The rebel leaders asked France for more weapons to help their offensive.

•Gaddafi held a rally in al-Aziziya, south of the capital as part of his ongoing attempts to mobilise tribes to combat recent rebel advances, the Associated Press reports. The Libyan dictator said:

Look at the tribes of the Warshafana, who dares to challenge them? No one can; they will help free Libya from the hands of these rebels. You are preparing today to march to the western mountains to cleanse it and liberate it from the traitors and mercenaries.

AP reports

Over the past week, Gaddafi has started injecting more and more references to the tribes in his almost daily speeches and begun talking about a popular march of "millions" of tribesmen to reclaim the lost territory.

Sometimes it is an unarmed march of men, women and children, other times it sounds like more of a military operation, but at the very least it suggests some kind of counter-attack may be in the offing.

It is impossible to determine independently whether the tribesmen truly support the Gaddafi military, as the government repeatedly insists, or whether they are ready to mount an assault on the mountains.

•Rebel fighters claim to have encircled remaining Gaddafi troops in the strategic oil town of Brega but they are being held up by minefields.

Syria

Stephen Rapp, who has been in London discussing how to bring international pressure to bear on Bashar al-Assad's regime, believes that government officials in Damascus will eventually be brought to justice.

"We are watching the situation in Syria very closely," Rapp told the Guardian.

"We see crimes against humanity. As a former prosecutor [in the special court for Sierra Leone] I can't tell whether it's … systematic attacks against civilians based on a plan.

"But it is clearly violence that has caused more than 1,000 deaths [among] civilians who were asking for democratic rights. It constitutes a crime against humanity. That needs to stop and there needs to be accountability."

•The local co-ordination committees (LCC), which organise and report protests in Syria, said there was heavy gunfire in Homs overnight forcing people to switch off lights to protect themselves from snipers. They said:

Security forces are everywhere in Brazil Street and Insha'at area with armored vehicles support. 2000 security person are in Jouret Al Shiah, everyone is asked to show his personal ID when walking in or out the district

They also reported gunfire in al-Rastan.

•The LCC also said security forces used force to try to disperse a demonstration of hundreds of people in al Qemariya in old Damascus, arresting eight people. There were also protests overnight in Lattakia and Deir ez-Zor.

Egypt

Major General Mamdouh Shaheen, who presented the new law to reporters said barring foreign monitors was a necessary step to protect Egypt's sovereignty. He said:

We have nothing to hide...we reject anything that affects our sovereignty.

Egyptian election monitors will observe the process instead, he said. Hafez Abou Saada, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, said promises of free and fair elections from the military are not enough, noting that denying international monitors mirrors the line adopted by the regime of the deposed dictator, Hosni Mubarak. He said:

International monitors are part of any modern elections. Many countries are watching what is happening in Egypt. This is not a very positive signal.